Revised oxygen system blamed for W.Va. plane crash

Aviation General Aviation
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December 22, 2010
Revised oxygen system blamed for W.Va. plane crash
By The Associated Press

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. – Federal investigators say a modified oxygen system is the probable cause of a fatal airplane crash in West Virginia last year.

The National Transportation Safety Board says the pilot made improper changes to the single-engine Cirrus SR-22’s system. As a result, he was deprived of oxygen and became incapacitated.

The plane crashed July 30, 2009, in a remote wooded area in Jackson County. The pilot, 61-year-old William Huff of Indiana, was killed.

Huff was returning to an airport in Indianapolis, Ind., from Nebraska when air traffic controllers lost contact after giving him clearance to descend. The plane continued flying until it ran out of fuel and crashed.

The Parkersburg News reported the NTSB’s findings Wednesday.

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Gotta love the lack of reporting in the article, catch our attention, lure us down a path and really tell us nothing. Why would a pilot “revise” the O2 system? What vintage of Cirrus was it, early system or newer version? But it is not about investigating the O2 systems, just an easy explanation to close it for the ntsb. What was his profile for the flight (altitude, time at altitude…), seems he would have noticed his symptoms of hypoxia earlier; when/where did he get his high altitude endorsement? At least with that as the reason Cirrus doesn’t have to worry about litigation.

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a quick search and you can find a lot of the information from news reports last year. jacksonnewspapers.com/news/x … ash-report